Mitch Trubisky, North Carolina

Height: 6’2”
Weight: 222 lbs.
40-yard dash: 4.67 seconds
Arms: 32”
Hands: 9 1/2”

One of the highly debated topics of the 2017 NFL Draft is whether or not Trubisky is worthy of a top-10 pick, simply because he’s only started 13 college games. It’s a fair concern, as you have to wonder if he has enough experience to contribute right away at the NFL level. When watching the games that he did start, Trubisky has all the makings of a high-quality NFL starter.

There are a few things that come to mind when you think about a few first-round quarterbacks who’ve busted, but the most common thing is awareness. If you have a quarterback who sees ghosts when no one is there in the pocket, he’ll get happy feet, jump everywhere, make erratic throws, and eventually lose confidence. This is not going to be a problem with Trubisky, and somehow, it’s almost the exact opposite.

Similar to Andrew Luck, Trubisky keeps his eyes downfield almost too much, which may lead to him taking more sacks. It’s definitely something you’ll live with as an offensive coordinator, because it allows him to go through his progressions and not lock onto one target. You can say that his awareness needs some work, but there is nothing fundamentally wrong with his approach. That may be something that comes along with more experience, but the good outweighs the bad here.

No matter which side you fall on the Trubisky argument, there’s no argument about his arm strength. He can whip the ball around the field, and particularly on wide receiver screens. There are many times I’ll be watching an NFL team run a wide receiver screen, only to see it broken up because of how slow the play developed because of how slow the quarterback turned and the amount of time it took for the ball to get outside. Trubisky adds touch to his passes when he needs to, but he wastes no time on plays like that. His deep ball is strong, though inaccurate at times, which again may be his lack of continuity in the offense being a one-year starter.

He has great size for a quarterback and offers solid speed for someone as big as he is, turning in a 4.67 second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. His size/speed combo makes for a difficult target to bring down. With his ability to keep his eyes downfield, surveying the defense, Trubisky should possess the ability to add 200-plus rushing yards per year. But don’t get him confused with a run-first quarterback, because he’s always looking to throw first. It’s just an added dimension to his game.

On the field, Trubisky looked to be a leader as well. While things will change on the NFL level, I’m fully on board with Trubisky as a high first-round pick. Despite my belief in him, he shouldn’t be starting right away. While at North Carolina he took almost all his snaps from shotgun, so he needs to work on his center exchange, as well as learn the speed of the NFL game. It’s not very often where I’d advocate a quarterback to play immediately, and Trubisky is not an exception to this rule. If given a year or two to learn the game and get the necessary practice reps, Trubisky should be a star in this league. If he’s rushed into action, things likely won’t go very well.

Potential Landing Spot

In the NFL Draft, it’s plain and simple, quarterbacks are king. Trubisky is going to be drafted inside the first round, and it’s very likely he goes inside the top 10. With that being said, the 49ers make too much sense for me. They aren’t in win-now mode, they have a new front office and head coach who’ve been guaranteed a long time to rebuild their team, and they already have their short-term solution in Brian Hoyer. New head coach Kyle Shanahan won’t feel pressured to play Trubisky immediately due to his job security, and Hoyer is a solid veteran to show him the ropes. Other potential suitors: Bears, Browns, and Jets.

NFL Comparison

There are traits of his that I’d compare with Andrew Luck, and while I can’t say that he’s on Luck’s level coming out of college, that’s a tall order to live up to. Both are more than capable of making big throws, but they both can pull the ball in and take off running for 20 yards. As mentioned earlier, they both keep their eyes downfield while moving around in the pocket, which is a great trait to have, even if it does lead to more sacks. When looking for a first-round quarterback, Trubisky checks the boxes, you know, minus the whole experience thing.

To read up on some of the other high-profile NFL Draft prospects, check out the links below:

Leonard Fournette – (RB, LSU)
Joe Mixon – (RB, Oklahoma)
Christian McCaffrey – (RB, Stanford)
Dalvin Cook – (RB, Florida State)
Corey Davis – (WR, Western Michigan)
Mike Williams – (WR, Clemson)
John Ross – (WR, Washington)

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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.